Science fiction & fantasy are good tools to exercise mental creativity and think through scenarios of technical change.

Fantasy is a useful way to explore how technology might work in a world with unlimited resources. For example, Dor the magician in Piers Anthony's Xanth novels is able to talk to inanimate objects. In some ways that fantasy approximates a future state for how we interact with AI enabled objects like Amazon Alexa or Siri.

The USC Worldbuilding Institute (http://worldbuilding.institute/about) has been researching how fiction can serve as a catalyst for engineering, business, and social breakthroughs.

A lot of people get their fantasy fix from science fiction.

(this is my favorite place to apply the Arthur C. Clarke quote "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.", whether he meant it that way or not)

And not just the technology; I mean, what's Arrakis if not a fantasy world?

The older hard science fiction missed almost all its guesses - just look at all those spaceships - so it's better as pure fantasy than anything else.

I feel like I could've learned a lot more about society if I'd read more non-"genre fiction" books and not all those Larry Niven stories where everyone just trades facts about particle physics as conversation.

If you consider modern fantasy in the YA category then Diane Duane's Young Wizards series has been a favorite of mine http://ebooksdirect.co

Her Star Trek books are quite good, and the audible books of the Young Wizards series are narrated by Christina Moore who does a very good job on all her audiobooks.

Name of the Wind is good. Almost too good. The downside of course is that some people fear Rothfuss will never finish the story...

The farther away I get from Name of the Wind, the worse taste it leaves in my mouth. Perhaps it's because it's unfinished and Kvothe's rosy prose and tendency to superlative is not yet explained. Taken on their own, they just seem overwritten to me.

The book weaves a spell around you as your read that makes you love it more than any other book you've read recently. As time passes, and as you read the sequel, the enchantment fades, your senses return and you realize you've been beguiled. Then you hear the first insightful criticism of the work, and it comes tumbling down. That was my experience anyway.

I'll also admit to a bit of resentment towards him and GRRM, the combination of which has given me some aversion to reading series that aren't finished yet.

I've been burned twice now. First with Name of the Wind, and again with Blood Song. Both books were incredible masterpieces, and both books were a part of an unfinished series. And at least with Blood Song, the rest of the series was pretty disappointing by comparison. I vowed to never again read an unfinished series (although, I was not burned by Harry Potter, and so far I have not been burned by Stormlight Archive)

Sanderson is probably the only writer I would bank on these days. The man is clearly the most productive writer active in his genre. Mark Lawrence is pretty good too (and I recommend his Broken Empire trilogy!).

No bad taste in my mouth from it so far. I think some scenes stand for themselves, for example it has the best dragon scene ever.

If you think that Fantasy is just for entertainment and imagination, you're giving the genre short shrift. Imagining the world as different than it is has tons of philosophical implications that apply directly to our experiences of our modern world.

Think about how The First Law series is different than Lord of the Rings. Now think about how our relationships and trust in those in authority have changed in between the publications of those two series.

Fantasy is about the world we're living in right now and our hopes and dreams for it.

I read a LOT of fantasy, including all authors on your list :) .

However, I do get a feel that they're more "escapist" than the books YC readers (and people like Bill Gates) read. Many of the recommendations are more in line with what they're building (people going through similar struggles or role models or understanding the world).

And the engrossing fantasy books can take good chunks of your time (which I guess an YC alumn ought to be devoting to his startup or personal life).

In the same vein, I don't expect most YC alumni to recommend lengthy TV series :)

> However, I do get a feel that they're more "escapist" than the books YC readers (and people like Bill Gates) read. Many of the recommendations are more in line with what they're building (people going through similar struggles or role models or understanding the world).

I think this is unfortunate. Fiction is as important a reflection of society as non-fiction and I would hope that everyone will take time to appreciate art, fiction, music, etc. We understand many now gone societies through their fiction. Not just what they did, but they way they thought and behaved.

Even if you dismiss this as a worthwhile goal, science fiction and fantasy are worthwhile in understanding the world. I'm thinking of Star Trek, The Hainish Cycle, or a Stranger in a Strange Land. All of these explore contemporary problems by abstracting them.

The Lies of Locke Lamora is easily the best-written fantasy novel I've read—save perhaps The Hobbit, but that's fairly unlike modern adult fantasy. It's sad that thorough competence at storytelling is a rare quality in genre fic but, well, here we are.

Book two he gets a little too nuts with sailing junk and wow that plot device at the end is awfully familiar, but it's still got some nice world building. Three's back to form (though I'd favor the first one, slightly).

No Holdstock and his Ryhope Wood series?

Of course that might be the implied problem of a "2016 winter reading list", its not the 1985 winter reading list and you probably should have read Mythago Wood back in 1985 when it was new. On the other hand in the sci fi discussion people are arguing about a hard sci fi book that's over 20 years old, so allowing a 30 year old book isn't too ridiculous...

We actually had a few fantasy books on our Summer Reading List: https://blog.ycombinator.com/yc-summer-reading/

Thanks for the recommendations!

Just read Locke Lamora and it was quite good.

I'd add in the Malazan series by Steven Eriksson. Gardens of the Moon is the first one. Great books, but definitely a long undertaking.

It is rare to find good fantasy books. I just remembered that I also greatly enjoyed the The Witcher series (on which the popular CRPG is based).

I highly recommend all of NK Jemisin's works. The first novel in her most recent series won this year's Hugo for Best Novel: The Fifth Season.

Name of the wind very good! The second book wasn't as good IMHO. Will still buy the third : )